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With its links to the Bruce Trail and relatively accessible walk from parking lot to waterfall, Tiffany Falls Conservation Area is a popular spot for tourists and hikers alike. And when temperatures plunge to the double negatives, the west Hamilton spot becomes popular with a different group: ice climbers.
The Hamilton Conservation Authority permits two organizations to climb the waterfall. One of them, Muskoka Mountainworks, just started working there, taking a group climbing at Tiffany Falls for the first time on Jan. 26.
Hamilton and much of southern Ontario had just been through a snow storm and the scene was “beautiful,” instructor Jonathan Nunes told CBC Hamilton.
“The entire area was filled with fresh powder. The ice was nice and solid,” Nunes said. And in a couple spots, “you could hear water running as you climbed.”
When you’re in the forest around the waterfall, you can hardly tell you’re in a city, he added.
Ice climbers scale Tiffany Falls on Jan. 26. Muskoka Mountainworks is one of two organizations allowed to climb at that conservation area.
A long-awaited climb
Terry Wilson, 67, is one of the climbers who joined Nunes that day. The resident of Sarnia, Ont.’s Brights Grove area, has been climbing for about 12 years.
Wilson told CBC Hamilton he started because he wanted an activity for his kids that wasn’t the movies. “I wanted to do adventure-y stuff.”
He “always wanted to climb Tiffany Falls,” making last week’s outing special.
Clare Wark, 30, always wanted to climb Tiffany Falls since growing up in Hamilton and visiting the conservation area. Now a resident of Collingwood, Ont., Wark said last week was finally her opportunity to do it.
“It was really amazing,” Wark said, noting the waterfall was taller than other ice she’s climbed, making it more fun but also more challenging.
“It’s just a really magical way to get out and enjoy nature and winter,” she said, adding she hopes to be back at Tiffany Falls next year.
Wilson said that although “the highway was a little rough getting there,” his climb was also worth the wait.
Climbing waterfalls has a “calming down effect,” Wilson said, and it’s a good workout.
Nunes, who lives near Blue Mountain, Ont., and near Port Severn, Ont., leads climbing groups year-round across Ontario. In the winter, he switches to ice climbing from rock climbing.
Climbers use gear including ice tools to create handholds, crampons to create footholds, reinforced climbing boots, ropes, harnesses and helmets to stay safe.
The sport is “surging” in popularity, Nunes said, adding that Muskoka Mountainworks is raising money with an initiative called Climb Aid+ to fund trips for people who can’t afford them.
Ice climbing requires a long period of consistently cold temperatures to ensure ice is strong enough, Nunes said, adding he understands that’s a turnoff for some.
But when Nunes hears people complain about the season, “I feel a little bad because I want them to know that there’s a way to enjoy winter,” he said. “There are a lot of really fun, beautiful activities where they can actually enjoy the snow, enjoy the ice… It makes the winter go by really fast.”
Plus, once you start climbing you warm up quickly, the instructor said, noting an outing in temperatures near –25 C in Bancroft, Ont., had his group sweating Monday.
Wilson, who finds summer too hot, says “winter is the best time,” and he encourages anyone who can to give ice climbing a go. “Try it. You will like it.”
